Girls on the Run helps girls reach full potential

By the Midland Daily News

Published 8:00 am, Sunday, June 30, 2013

After our nation’s girls enter kindergarten, they quickly go from a world filled with princess dresses, sparkles and fluffy rainbow unicorns to one filled with peer social politics and a media culture that preys on human insecurities for profit and sometimes for exploitation.

Girls on the Run (GOTR) is one tool caregivers can use to be proactive about teaching girls how to cultivate a healthy balanced lifestyle despite that reality. It was created by Molly Barker in North Carolina. Barker, who is a social worker, tri-athlete, and suicide prevention counselor, wanted to create a program to help girls learn to thrive. Because she felt her best as a young girl whenever she ran with her mother, she decided to use running as the primary theme.

Barker then wrote a research-based character-building curriculum to help girls meet their need for physical activity while learning to develop healthy behavior patterns. She also aimed to encourage females to come together to celebrate their unique personality traits in an environment that fosters team building and personal improvement goals as opposed to peer competition.

The program grew overtime to include several states throughout our country. Michigan currently has the greatest number of Girls on the Run councils nation-wide. Sara JacobsCarter, council director for Midland and Gladwin County, runs the program from her office at Shelterhouse. She says that the primary objective of the program is to encourage girls to reach their “full potential.” The Midland and Gladwin County chapter completed its fifth year of participation this spring.

According to JacobsCarter, there were 23 teams this season in Midland. The program is offered at elementary schools every fall and spring. GOTR recruits female coaches who have a passion for the program and are “comfortable in their own skin.” After a half-day training session, they are assigned to a group.

The children meet after school for two hours twice per week for 10 weeks. Their daily curriculum is threefold: a topic concerning matters having to do with nutrition, mental or social health is introduced and discussed or taught during a planned activity, the girls stretch out and warm up, and then they run. Lessons focus on such issues as standing up for themselves, communicating effectively, identifying media messages that contradict common sense and learning to handle strong emotions in productive ways.

At the culmination of the season, the girls run a 5K and celebrate their improvements over the span of the program. JacobsCarter emphasized that the focus of this race is not so much who wins but what personal improvements each girl makes over the course of the season.

“Although the full registration fee is $95, we don’t want family finances to prevent any girl from joining her school’s team. The program is especially powerful for girls whose families have fewer financial and parental resources, so we make sure any family that requests a scholarship is granted one,” said JacobsCarter.

The program’s implementation throughout Midland and Gladwin County is made possible through a women’s initiative grant from United Way. The Dow Chemical Co. Foundation, Midland Area Community Foundation, and the Zonta Club of Midland are also primary contributors.

“Smaller contributions of single scholarships and time and energy are also vital to the GOTR program. Some families donate extra registration fees for other girls, and we have even had girls donate their own money,” said JacobsCarter.